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As usual 80 clubs will compete in the 1st Round of this year’s FA Cup with 24 clubs from both EFL Divisions One and Two joining the 32 Non-League clubs who have made it through from the Qualifying Rounds.

Of those 32 qualifying non-league clubs, half are members of the National League, four each come from the National Leagues North and South, two each come from the Premier Divisions of the Southern League, the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League, whilst two clubs play their league football at level eight in the pyramid.

Northern Premier League Division One North side Hyde United and Isthmian League Division One North side Heybridge Swifts will both be participating in their sixth FA Cup tie this season. That’s the same number of ties that the likely Premier League winner will have to play. Both these two tier eight clubs are hoping to make it through to the 2nd Round of the FA Cup for the first time ever, but both face much higher Football League opposition.

Several other clubs are also hoping to progress beyond the 1st Round for the first time ever. Clubs such as Billericay Town, Nantwich Town, AFC Fylde and Guiseley have at least appeared in the 1st Round before, National League side Guiseley are doing so for the seventh time which, if they fail to win, would place the Yorkshire club in third spot in the all-time list of appearances in the FA Cup 1st Round without ever going any further.

Other clubs are making history already by appearing in the FA Cup 1st Round for the first time in their history. Southern League Premier Division side Hereford is competing in just the club’s second FA Cup campaign and will be looking to emulate its predecessor club, Hereford United, in terms of FA Cup giant-killing folklore. Northern Premier League Premier Division club Shaw Lane Association hadn’t even won an FA Cup game before this third campaign, but the club’s current run to the 1st Round means it now has twice as many FA Cup victories than losses!

Truro City, from National League South, has had to wait much longer to make it this far in the FA Cup having first appeared in the 1924-25 season. This year is the White Tiger’s 31st campaign in the FA Cup and the club becomes only the second one from Cornwall to appear in this Round. Falmouth Town achieved the feat three times in the 1960s but never progressed beyond the 1st Round, so Truro City has a fantastic opportunity to create Cornish football history. There’s just the small matter of an away tie at EFL One side Charlton Athletic to overcome.

Possibly the most surprising statistic of this year’s FA Cup 1st Round is how few of the 80 clubs involved will face opponents from the same League. Just two 1st Round ties pit clubs together who will face each other twice more in League games, and even more remarkably one of those ties involves the two remaining Isthmian League Premier Division sides, Leatherhead and Billericay Town. The only other same League match-up is the all EFL Division One encounter between Northampton Town and Scunthorpe United.

That all-Isthmian League encounter is one of several 1st Round ties between two non-league clubs, which guarantees at least five of them will be in the 2nd Round. Conversely, at least 13 EFL clubs will exit the competition at the first hurdle, some of whom could be former winners such as Bradford City, Portsmouth, Notts County, Wigan Athletic and Blackburn Rovers. The last team in that list are having to start their FA Cup campaign in the 1st Round for the first time in 38 years and Rovers haven’t exited the competition as early as this Round for another eight years before then.

Just 11 of the forty 1st Round FA Cup ties sees clubs coming up against opponents whom they have encountered in the FA Cup before. For Notts County, the club has had to wait 104 years for the chance to avenge the 2-0 defeat by Bristol Rovers way back before the start of World War I, whilst many other ties are re-matches from games played in the 21st Century.

One club who will be ruing their luck of the draw is Tranmere Rovers who have been drawn to face Peterborough United for the seventh time in the FA Cup. The unfortunate thing for Tranmere is that they been defeated by The Posh on all six previous occasions, managing just one goal-less draw in those meetings and scoring just three goals and conceding sixteen in the process.

Another one-sided FA Cup match-up is Luton Town versus Portsmouth. The Hatters have won all three previous FA Cup meetings with Pompey, the last of which was a Quarter Final tie in 1988 when both sides were top-flight clubs!

Forest Green Rovers will be competing in the FA Cup for the first time as a Football League club. Depending upon your view of football club history they are either the 142nd, the 143rd, or the 144th club to represent the Football League in the FA Cup. I suggest they are the 144th club based on the view that neither MK Dons nor AFC Wimbledon can lay claim to the history of Wimbledon FC, and that the current Newport County club is a different entity to the one that folded back in 1989. However, given that Chesterfield FC and Middlesbrough FC, to name but two, have both folded and re-formed during their long histories but have maintained the continuum of being regarded as one club, then the waters in this matter are very muddy indeed. Either way, it’s a great celebration for Forest Green.

Several other clubs are also celebrating significant FA Cup milestones. Hartlepool United, Exeter City and Rochdale are all competing in the FA Cup for the 100th time, whilst for Crewe Alexandra this year will be their 125th campaign. The celebrations are tempered a little bit, particularly for the latter three clubs, by the knowledge that they occupy the top three places for the most number of times a club has been eliminated from the FA Cup in the 1st Round. In the cases of Rochdale and Exeter City, they have suffered 1st Round knock-outs in about 50% of their campaigns. A glimmer of hope then for their respective non-league opponents, Bromley and Heybridge Swifts.

The FA Cup had been running for 25 years before the first club from Cornwall graced this illustrious competition.

On the 6th October, 1906, Torpoint Association FC, formed almost 20 years earlier but only taking that moniker after amalgamating Torpoint Triumph FC in 1905, just a season prior to their FA Cup debut, set up to face Bristol based side Staple Hill in the 1st qualifying round of the competition. Playing in the Plymouth and District League Division One, Torpoint Association were facing a more senior Western League Division Two club, a club with a 10 campaign FA Cup pedigree, and a club who had appeared in the 1st Round ‘Proper’ just the season before (losing 7-2 at Manchester United).

Torpoint Association would have considered themselves to have done very well then to have held their visitors to a 1-1 draw and set up a replay at Staple Hill, but it was to get even better for this trailblazing Cornish club as they went on to win the replay 3-0 to set up a 2nd qualifying round trip to Radstock Town. Somerset based Radstock Town were also plying their trade in the Western League Division Two and this time proved too much for their junior opponents, although the 2-0 scoreline was nothing to be embarrassed about.

Torpoint Association would become Torpoint Athletic following the cessation of hostilities of The Great War, but it would be another 104 years before they competed in the FA Cup again, playing just three more times so far as members of the South West Peninsula League Premier Division, but never yet equalling that inaugural run to the 2nd qualifying round.

Torpoint were the first of 16 clubs from Cornwall to have appeared in the FA Cup with a total of 330 campaigns between them. The second club to make their FA Cup bow, coming seven years after Torpoint’s run, was St Austell FC, also representatives of the Plymouth and District League Division One. St Austell were drawn to travel to Yeovil Town of the more senior Somerset Senior League Division ‘A’ in the Extra Preliminary Round. This Yeovil Town was a forerunner to the current club amalgamating with Petters United after the First World War to form the current club.

However, St Austell proved too good for their higher league opponents winning the tie 2-0 before going on to thrash another Somerset Senior League Division ‘A’ club, Minehead, 7-1 in the preliminary round, a record win for the Cornish side in the competition. The Cup run would come to a shuddering halt in the next round losing 8-1 at Welton Rovers of the much higher Western League, which still stands as the club’s record FA Cup defeat. Along with many, many other clubs, St Austell withdrew from the following 1914/15 FA Cup competition due to the depletion of available players owing to mass enlisting of pals battalions to fight in The Great War.

St Austell would become a regular representative of Cornish Football in the FA Cup over the next 20 years or so, achieving a peak of reaching the 3rd qualifying round in the 1947-48 season when members of the Cornish Senior Cup League beating Western League Division One side Glastonbury 2-1 and Dartmouth United of Plymouth and District League Division One 5-2, before losing 2-1 at home to Street of Western League Division One. The Lilywhites have competed 29 times in the FA Cup, the last five seasons of which under the name AFC St Austell.

The 1925/26 saw two Cornish clubs compete in the FA Cup in the same season for the first time as the short-lived Newquay United FC entered for the first of two consecutive seasons. As was often the case in the early rounds of the FA Cup, if only two clubs entered from the same geographical region they would invariably be drawn against each other, and so it was for Newquay United who had to travel to fellow Plymouth and District League Division One side St Austell where they were beaten 3-1 in the Extra Preliminary Round. The following year they were exempted until the preliminary round where they were beaten 4-1 by another league opponent Green Waves (Plymouth). So two FA Cup campaigns and two defeats for Newquay United.

In 1924/25 season Truro City entered the FA Cup for the first time, being the only Cornish representative that season, and the first one following the end of the War. Unfortunately, the White Tigers suffered a heavy 6-0 defeat at fellow Plymouth and District League Division One club Green Waves (Plymouth), and the club wouldn’t appear again in the competition for another 25 years. They had had 30 campaigns prior to this season’s run to the 1st Round ‘Proper’ and had peaked at reaching the 3rd qualifying round three times in the last eight seasons as first a Southern League Premier Division club and then twice as members of the Conference/National League South.

The next Cornish club to try their hand in the FA Cup was Wadebridge Town who entered as members of the Plymouth and District League in 1930/31 season alongside St Austell. A 1-0 home win over Somerset based Westland Works of Western League Division Two (that club’s only FA Cup match) saw The Bridgers through to travel to the original Taunton Town FC plying their trade in the much higher Southern League Western Division. A 2-0 defeat to a club who would go on the make the 1st Round ‘Proper’ that season brought their inaugural run to an end.

The Bridgers would go on to appear in the FA Cup 34 more times reaching a best of the 3rd qualifying round four times, most latterly in the 1971/72 season whilst members of the South Western League. A 3-2 win at league opponents Saltash United in the 1st qualifying round was followed up by a 4-1 win at home to another, St Blazey, in the second. Devon based Bideford, soon to be crowned Western League champions at the end of the season, brought their run to an end winning 4-1 in the 3rd qualifying round.

The 1950/51 season saw five Cornish clubs compete in the FA Cup for the first time with both Newquay and St Blazey making their bow as members of the Cornish Senior Cup League. Newquay had the better debut of the two, but it would be St Blazey who would go on to have the better FA Cup record. Newquay thumped Weston-super-Mare St John’s 7-1 in the Extra Preliminary Round, their opponents being members of Bristol and District League Division One playing what would be their last FA Cup game, before despatching league opponents St Austell 3-0 and Western League Division Two outfit Ilfracombe Town 5-2 in the next two rounds. Western League Division One side Street would be the end of the Cup run for Newquay, losing 2-1 at home in the 2nd qualifying round, a round the Peppermints would appear in five more times without ever going ever further during their 23 FA Cup campaigns so far.

St Blazey on the other hand, scraped through their extra preliminary round tie against Exmouth Town of the Exeter and District League Premier Division. The sides drew 3-3 before St Blazey won the replay 4-1 bringing them a home tie against the aforementioned Ilfracombe Town who thumped them 6-0 at their own ground. St Blazey hold the record of most FA Cup campaigns of all Cornish clubs, appearing 61 times and coming ever so close to making the 1st Round ‘Proper’ in the 1998/99 season.

St Blazey were members of the South West League that year and the run began with a tight 3-2 win over Hellenic League Premier Division side EFC Cheltenham in the 1st qualifying round. This was followed up by a 3-1 win at Midland Football Alliance club Pershore Town and a 1-0 home win over Isthmian League Division Two club Barking FC, one half of the current Barking club formed in 2001 as a result of a merger with East Ham United. The Green and Black’s then hosted Camberley Town from Division Three of the Isthmian League who, like St Blazey, were trying to make the 1st Round ‘Proper’ of the FA Cup for the first time. However, it was the Surrey based club who triumphed with a 2-0 victory to make a little piece of history of their own.

Two seasons later six Cornish clubs appeared in the FA Cup for the first time as Penzance made their bow, the most westerly mainland side ever to compete in the FA Cup. A 3-1 defeat at fellow South Western League side St Blazey ended the Magpies’ inaugural FA Cup as soon as it began. Penzance wouldn’t win their first FA Cup match until their fourth attempt, and when they did eventually win they went all the way to the 3rd qualifying round for the first of two occasions in 1955/56 season. Three successive wins over fellow South Western League sides, Newquay 4-2, Truro City 3-1 and Bodmin Town 4-3, led the Magpies to a home tie against Bideford from Western League Division One. A credible 2-2 draw against the higher league side was followed by a 2-0 defeat in the replay. Twenty years later Penzance made the 3rd qualifying round again, the furthest they have been so far in their 27 campaigns.

Bodmin Town first entered the FA Cup in the 1954/55 season, one of an at-the-time record seven clubs from the county to compete in it that season. A debut 2-0 win at home to fellow South Western League club Wadebridge Town led to a 1st qualifying round tie at home to Minehead from Western League Division Two. An entertaining 3-3 draw was followed up by an equally entertaining 2-2 draw resulting in a third match to settle the tie, which the higher league side eventually won by the odd goal in five. Bodmin Town are still competing in the FA Cup, with 2017-18 being the Black and Ambers’ 17th appearance so far. To date the club’s best run took them to the 3rd qualifying round in 2011-12 season whilst members of South West Peninsula League Premier Division.

The run started with a high scoring 6-3 extra preliminary round victory over league opponents Falmouth Town in what is that club’s last FA Cup match to date. Next came a terrific 2-1 win at Western League Premier Division side Barnstaple Town, a 3-1 win at league opponents Tavistock Town and a 4-1 replay win over Yate Town from the Southern League Division One South and West after a 1-1 draw. Another 1-1 draw was obtained at home to Isthmian League Division One South outfit Godalming Town in the 3rd qualifying round before finally succumbing to a 5-1 defeat in the replay.

The next Cornish club to partake in the FA Cup for the first time occurred in the 1962-63 season, and what an impact they made. Falmouth Town had only been formed in 1949 abut were Champions of the South Western League when entering the FA Cup for the first time, but nothing could have predicted their debut Cup run. A 1-1 draw at home to Western League side Barnstaple Town might have expected to lead to defeat in the replay but The Ambers went on to win that match 3-1. A tight 1-0 home win over league opponents St Blazey in the next round still gave no indication of what was to come, and a 1-1 draw at home to Western League side Bideford in the next round would similarly have raised no eyebrows.

However, Falmouth Town won that 3rd qualifying round replay 3-0 to become the first Cornish side to make to within one round of the ‘Proper’ rounds of the FA Cup. They were drawn at home to Southern League Premier Division side Bath City, a club with regular appearances in the 1st Round ‘Proper’, but two goals by Peter Bennett created further history for the Cornish club as they won the tie 2-1 to make it through. The draw was kind, a home tie against a Football League club, albeit Oxford United who had established that membership just the season before. There was to be no giant-killing for the Cornish side as Jonny Penny hit a late goal in their 2-1 defeat, but history had already been made.

The 1960s, though, would prove to be a fruitful time for Falmouth Town in the FA Cup. A second successive 4th qualifying round appearance the next season would soon be bettered by a second appearance in the 1st Round ‘Proper’ (1967-68, a 5-2 defeat at League Division Three side Peterborough United), and then a third (1969-70, a 4-1 home defeat to the same club then of Football League Division Four). Until this 2017/18 season Falmouth Town had been the only club to make it so far in the competition.

Falmouth Town has the second highest number of FA Cup campaigns (46) of all Cornish clubs and has twice come close to once again emulating their record run (successively in 1975/76 and 1976/77 seasons). The only other Cornish club, aside from the already mentioned St Blazey, to come this close prior to this season is Saltash United, who only entered the FA Cup for the first time in the year after Falmouth’s last 1st Round ‘Proper’ appearance.

The Ashes’ debut FA Cup game resulted in a 3-1 win at fellow South Western League side Wadebridge Town before bowing out to Western League side Bideford 3-2 in the 2nd qualifying round. The club’s best FA Cup run to date occurred 17 years later whilst they were members of Western League Premier Division. The run started with a 3-0 win at league opponents Taunton Town in the 1st qualifying round. This was followed up by a 7-1 thrashing of Ottery St Mary of the lower Western League Division One, and then a 3-0 home win over Tiverton Town of the same lower division.

That win led to a trip to Isthmian Premier League side Farnborough Town and an opportunity to be the first Cornish club in 18 years to make the 1st Round ‘Proper’. Unfortunately it was not to be as the Hampshire club ran out 4-2 winners. Eleven years later St Blazey would see their similar hopes dashed by nearby Camberley Town, but now 20 years further on, those terrific FA Cup runs by Falmouth Town have finally been emulated by Truro City.

In those 38 years between Cornish representation in the 1st Round ‘Proper’, four other Cornish clubs have competed in the FA Cup to differing degrees of success. Penryn Athletic had one appearance in 2007/08 season, losing 3-2 at home to Hellenic League Premier Division side Slimbridge in their only FA Cup match to date. Launceston appeared in three successive seasons, starting a couple of years after Penryn, winning their first tie 3-0 at home to Sherborne Town of Western League Premier Division before losing 2-0 at home to Paulton Rovers of Southern League Division One South and West in the next round. Launceston has never made it beyond the preliminary round as yet.

Likewise Porthleven, who have competed in the FA Cup five times, successively from the 2002/03 season. However, a 1-0 home win over Wessex League Division One side Downton in 2004/05 is The Fishermen’s only FA Cup victory. Liskeard Athletic have had 13 FA Cup runs making the 3rd qualifying round on four separate occasions, most recently in the 1991/92 season whilst members of Western League Premier Division. A 3-2 win at South Western League club St Austell was followed by a 5-1 victory over Falmouth Town of the same league in the next round. However, league opponents Tiverton Town brought that run to an end with a 3-1 victory in the 3rd qualifying round.

So it is Truro City who have the opportunity to create Cornish football history. Only the second club from the county to make the 1st Round ‘Proper’ and only the second club from the county to face Football League opposition, in the shape of Charlton Athletic. As a club competing at the highest level a Cornish club has ever competed at, and after convincing wins over Wessex League Premier Division side AFC Portchester (2-0), Isthmian League Division One side AFC Sudbury (4-1), and fellow National League South club Hampton and Richmond Borough (2-0 away), they are well placed to create even more history for Cornwall by appearing in the 2nd Round of the FA Cup … and maybe even beyond that!

Truro City become only the second ever club from Cornwall to appear in the 1st Round of the FA Cup, after Falmouth Town who did it three times in the 1960s.

Heybridge Swifts are the current top scorers of all clubs still in FA Cup with 23 goals scored so far.

Northern League Division One side Shildon were the last of the 370 clubs to enter the FA Cup in the Extra Preliminary Round in the first weekend of August still standing by the last of the six Qualifying Rounds. They have played as many FA Cup ties (six) as the eventual winners will play.

Torquay United have now lost twice to Aldershot Town in FA Cup, as well as three times to the original Aldershot club, in the five FA Cup meetings they’ve had with the two clubs.

Before this season Shaw Lane Association had never won an FA Cup match. Now they have won twice as many as they have lost.

History: No previous FA Cup meetings, however Tranmere Rovers did twice defeat the original Halifax Town in the FA Cup.

Facts: FC Halifax Town achieved its best FA Cup run just last year and has not failed to make the 1st Round ‘Proper’ for five years. Conversely, Tranmere Rovers has exited the FA Cup in this Round in both the last two seasons.

Tie No. 2 – Solihull Moors (National League) v Ossett Town (NPL 1N)

Levels: Step 1 v Step 4

Best Runs:Round 2 v 4th qualifying

History: No previous FA Cup meetings.

Facts: Solihull Moors achieved its best FA Cup run just last year. Ossett Town is equalling the club’s best Cup run achieved just once before 11 years ago.

History: No previous FA Cup meetings, however Hartlepool United (as Hartlepools United) lost 1-0 to South Shields in 4th Qualifying Round in 1913/14 season. That South Shields club became Gateshead in 1930.

Facts: South Shields are appearing in this Round for the first time ever in their 23rd campaign. Hartlepool United is appearing as early as this Round for the first time since 1924/25 season.

Facts: Having never won an FA Cup tie before this season, Shaw Lane Association has now won more FA Cup matches than they have lost. Barrow reached the 3rd Round last season for the 12th time, a record for any club never to have gone any further.

Facts: It is 27 years since Chorley last went beyond the 4th Qualifying Round when they equalled their best FA Cup run. It is 11 years since Boston United made the 1st Round ‘Proper’, when they were last a Football League side.

Facts: It is three years since AFC Telford United went beyond the 4th Qualifying Round when setting the club’s record FA Cup run. FC United of Manchester has achieved that feat just once in the six seasons since setting their own record run.

Facts: It is five years since Harrogate Town last went beyond the 4th Qualifying Round when they set their best FA Cup run. Gainsborough Trinity has progressed beyond the 4th Qualifying Round just once in the last nine seasons.

Tie No. 8 – Nantwich Town (NPL Premier) v Kettering Town (SL Premier)

Levels: Step 3 v Step 3

Best Runs:Round 1 v Round 4

History: No previous FA Cup meetings; Nantwich Town is the fourth club this season Kettering Town is meeting for the first time in the FA Cup.

Facts: It is six years since Nantwich Town ventured beyond the Qualifying Rounds for their one and only time so far. Coincidentally it is also six years since Kettering Town appeared in the 1st Round.

Tie No. 9 – Buxton (NPL Premier) v Gateshead (National League)

Levels: Step 3 v Step 1

Best Runs:Round 3 v Round 3

History: No previous FA Cup meetings.

Facts: It is 55 years since Buxton last ventured beyond the Qualifying Rounds of the FA Cup. Gateshead has exited the FA Cup in this Round in both seasons since setting their best Cup run.

Tie No. 10 – Guiseley (National League) v Shildon (NL 1)

Levels: Step 1 v Step 5

Best Runs:Round 1 v Round 2

History: One previous FA Cup meeting won 5-1 by Guiseley in the 2nd Qualifying Round 26 years ago.

Facts: It is five years since Guiseley last went beyond the 4th Qualifying Round when they equalled their best FA Cup run for the sixth time. It is 14 years since Shildon were last in the FA Cup 1st Round, the last Northern League side to do so.

Tie No. 11 – AFC Fylde (National League) v Wrexham (National League)

Levels: Step 1 v Step 1

Best Runs:Round 1 v QUARTER FINAL

History: No previous FA Cup meetings.

Facts: AFC Fylde has reached the 1st Round ‘Proper’ three times in the last five seasons. Wrexham is competing in the FA Cup for the 125th time, but it is three years since they went beyond the 4th Qualifying Round.

Facts: Kidderminster Harriers has progressed beyond the 4th Qualifying Round three times in the last five seasons. Chester has only once gone beyond this Round in their five previous campaigns.

Tie No. 13 – Scarborough Athletic (NPL 1N) v Hyde United (NPL 1N)

Levels: Step 4 v Step 4

Best Runs: 2nd qualifying v Round 1

History: No previous FA Cup meetings, although Hyde United lost 1-0 to the original Scarborough in this Round in 1962/63 season.

Facts: Scarborough Athletic is now two Rounds further than the club progressed in eight previous FA Cup campaigns. It is 23 years since Hyde United last went beyond the 4th Qualifying Round when they equalled their best FA Cup run for the third time.

Facts: Stourbridge set the club’s best ever FA Cup run just last season and have made the 1st Round five times in the last eight years. Macclesfield Town has only failed to beyond this Round once in the five years since dropping out of the Football League.

History: Three previous FA Cup meetings with Leyton Orient winning through each time, including a 5-4 win in Dagenham and Redbridge’s first season.

Facts: It is 11 years since Dagenham and Redbridge last exited the FA Cup before the 1st Round but this is only their second appearance in this Round during that time. It is 97 years since Leyton Orient last competed in the Qualifying Rounds of the FA Cup.

Tie No. 17 – Eastleigh (National League) v Hereford (SL Premier)

Levels: Step 1 v Step 3

Best Runs:Round 3 v 3rd qualifying

History: No previous FA Cup meetings.

Facts: Eastleigh has achieved the club’s best ever FA Cup run in both of the last two seasons. Hereford is appearing in FA Cup for only the second time but has already outperformed last season’s run to the 3rd Qualifying Round.

History: One previous FA Cup meeting, a 4th qualifying Round tie three years ago won 2-0 by Aldershot Town. Torquay United has also faced the original Aldershot three times and lost each time.

Facts: Aldershot Town has won two and lost two of the four 4th Qualifying Round ties since dropping out of the Football League. Torquay United has exited the competition in this Round in each of the last three seasons.

History: One previous FA Cup meeting, a 3rd Qualifying Round two years ago won 4-2 by Bognor Regis Town.

Facts: It is six years since Oxford City last made it through to the 1st Round ‘Proper’. For Bognor Regis Town it is 22 years since the club last achieved that feat when they equalled their best Cup run for the fourth time.

History: No previous FA Cup meetings, although Maidenhead United twice lost 1-0 to Havant Town just ahead of their merger with Waterlooville.

Facts: Maidenhead United has only twice made the 1st Round ‘Proper’ in the club’s last nine FA Cup campaigns. Havant and Waterlooville has only achieved that feat once more during the same period.

Tie No. 22 – Haringey Borough (IL 1N) v Heybridge Swifts (IL 1N)

Levels: Step 4 v Step 4

Best Runs: 3rd qualifying v Round 1

History: No previous FA Cup meetings.

Facts: Haringey Borough is appearing in the 4th Qualifying Round for the first time in the club’s 38th FA Cup campaign. It is 15 years since Heybridge Swifts last ventured beyond the Qualifying Rounds equalling their best Cup run for the third time.

Facts: It is 10 years since Hampton and Richmond Borough made it through to the 1st Round ‘Proper’ for the second time. Truro City is appearing in the 4th Qualifying Round for the first time in their 31st FA Cup campaign and have the chance to become only the second club from Cornwall to make the 1st Round.

History: Two previous FA Cup meetings with one victory apiece, although Bromley also lost 4-0 to Dover in the 1967/68 season.

Facts: Dover Athletic has progressed beyond the 4th Qualifying Round in each of the last four seasons during which time the club equalled its best ever Cup run. Bromley has only made the 1st Round once during the same period.

Facts: Slough town is tracking to exit the FA Cup in the 4th Qualifying Round having gone out in the Preliminary, 1st Qualifying, 2nd Qualifying and 3rd Qualifying successively over the last four years. It is 12 years since Folkestone Invicta last reached the 1st Round ‘Proper’ when setting the club’s best Cup run.

History: One previous FA Cup meeting, a 4th Qualifying Round three years ago won 3-1 by Dartford.

Facts: Burgess Hill Town is appearing in the 4th Qualifying Round for the fifth time and for the third time in four seasons. Dartford has made the 1st Round ‘Proper’ three times during the last four years.

Let’s all be very clear about this. Those Premier League clubs outside the supposed ‘Top six’ are not fighting against the revised split of TV money for any other reason than for their own self interests.

The ‘non Top Six’ clubs are just trying to prevent the current ‘Top Six’ clubs from doing to them what the current ‘non Top Six clubs’ are doing to every other club below the Premier League. That is, maximisation of profits for themselves without any concern for football as a whole.

Don’t be fooled by the argument that the money needs to be evenly spread to ensure the Premier League remains competitive. Despite what all the media pundits and journalists say, it is not competitive now.

Yes, Leicester City won the Premier League two years ago, supposedly proving that any team can do so, but in reality they were just the exception that proves the rule. Yes a newly promoted team can beat a ‘Top Six’ side, but that makes the headlines because of how infrequently it happens.

The truth of the matter is that the Premier League and its member clubs have too much money as it is. Why do they need even more? To be successful? I don’t think so. Time and again it has been shown that money doesn’t guarantee success. Yes, it gives you a better chance for success, but it doesn’t guarantee it.

No, the real reason clubs want more money is simply so they can have more money. Top level football clubs are businesses, run by business men and women, whose only reason for being is to make as much money as possible. The more money the clubs make the more money the individuals at the clubs will make, and the more money those running the competitions will make. The product itself is irrelevant. Football doesn’t matter.

This ‘money first, football nowhere’ approach is eventually going to kill the game.

Its inevitable conclusion is that there will be a small cluster of clubs remaining across Europe and the World, who will all base themselves in one tax haven with a temperate climate and all play each other in a closed league broadcast across the world by the highest bidder for TV rights.

In the eyes of the financially focused boards of these clubs all other levels of football can simply go hang itself.

Whatever the outcome of the current talks about sharing TV money, the long term result will be exactly the same.

The last club to knock out York City in the FA Cup as early as the 3rd Qualifying Round was Wath Athletic (4-1 in 1925/26 season)

FC United of Manchester came back from three goals down to earn a replay against Stockport County. Then in the replay won 1-0 after going down to nine men before half time at 0-0. LloydAllinson in goal was the star

1874 Northwich earned a replay for the fourth time in five rounds in this season’s FA Cup after coming from behind with a goal late on against Ossett Town. In the end they played 840 minutes of FA Cup football this season before going out on penalties.

Heybridge Swifts continue as top scorers in this year’s FA Cup now with 19 goals. Kettering Town extend their lead as overall all-time FA Cup top scorers with 878 goals

Facts: Having played 7 games already in FA Cup this year, 1874 Northwich are now three Rounds further than the club has ever gone before. Ossett Town has only once gone beyond this Round and that was 12 years ago.

Best Runs: 2nd qualifying v 3rd qualifying – the winner of this tie will become history makers

History: No previous FA Cup meetings.

Facts: Scarborough Athletic is appearing in this Round for the first time ever having twice before fallen in the previous Round. Stratford Town is appearing in this Round for the fourth time, all in the 21st Century.

Tie No. 9 – Basford United (NPL 1S) v Kettering Town (SL Premier)

Levels: Step 4 v Step 3

Best Runs: 2nd qualifying v Round 4

History: No previous FA Cup meetings.

Facts: In 41 previous campaigns Basford United had nine attempts to win in 2nd Qualifying Round, a feat the club has finally achieved at the 10th time of asking. Kettering Town is tracking to reach the 1st Round ‘Proper’ having exited the FA Cup one round further than in the previous year over each of the last three seasons.

Facts: The clubs may well play in the same League but their FA Cup histories couldn’t be more different. Shaw Lane Association has now won as many FA Cup ties as they have lost (two), whilst Lancaster City is in the club’s 94th campaign, although they have not ventured beyond the 3rd Qualifying Round for 13 years.

Tie No. 11 – Buxton (NPL Premier) v Alvechurch (NPL 1S)

Levels: Step 3 v Step 4

Best Runs:Round 3 v Round 3

History: No previous FA Cup meetings.

Facts: It is five years since Buxton progressed beyond the 3rd Qualifying Round. Alvechurch has had to wait a little longer – 26 years, although only 15 campaigns.

Facts: Harrogate Town has gone beyond this Round in both the last two seasons, whereas it is four years since Bradford (Park Avenue) did the same.

Tie No. 18 – Swindon Supermarine (SL 1SW) v Paulton Rovers (SL 1SW)

Levels: Step 4 v Step 4

Best Runs:Round 2 v Round 1

History: No previous FA Cup meetings.

Facts: The last time these clubs went beyond the 3rd Qualifying Round they both set their best ever FA Cup runs. For Swindon Supermarine in was seven years ago, for Paulton Rovers it was eight.

Tie No. 19 – Enfield Town (IL Premier) v Phoenix Sports (IL 1S)

Levels: Step 3 v Step 4

Best Runs: 4th qualifying v 2nd qualifying

History: No previous FA Cup meetings.

Facts: It is just two seasons ago when Enfield Town went beyond the 3rd Qualifying Round for their first and only time. Phoenix Sports are only in their fourth FA Cup campaign, setting their best run two years ago, too.

History: No previous FA Cup meetings, although Havant and Waterlooville did lose on penalties to Hayes in their first FA Cup campaign as an amalgamated club.

Facts: The ‘Ampersand’ derby, in fact the third ‘And’ club Hayes and Yeading United will face in this year’s FA Cup. It is five years since they went beyond this Round. Havant and Waterlooville has done so twice in the last three seasons.

Tie No. 21 – Hereford (SL Premier) v AFC Hornchurch (IL 1N)

Levels: Step 3 v Step 4

Best Runs: 3rd qualifying v Round 1

History: No previous FA Cup meetings, although AFC Hornchurch lost 1-0 to Hereford United in that club’s final FA Cup campaign.

Facts: Hereford is in just the club’s second FA Cup run now reaching this Round in both seasons. Over the last four seasons AFC Hornchurch has alternated between exiting in 4th Qualifying Round and 1st Qualifying Round.

History: One previous FA Cup meeting, won 3-0 by Poole Town in the 1983/84 season.

Facts: Slough Town is trending towards a 1st Round ‘Proper’ exit this season having exited progressively from 1st Qualifying Round to 4th Qualifying Round over the last four years. Over the same period Poole Town has alternated between exiting in 4th Qualifying Round and 2nd Qualifying Round.

History: One previous FA Cup meeting, won 2-0 by Brackley Town 11 years ago.

Facts: The only National League North vs South tie of the Round. Brackley Town equalled the club’s best ever FA Cup run just last season reaching it for the second time in four years. Similarly, Braintree Town set the club’s best run after four successive seasons of just missing out.

Facts: Concord Rangers were knocked out of FA Cup before this Round in the two seasons since setting the club’s best ever FA Cup run. Dorking Wanderers is in the club’s 5th FA Cup campaign having set their best run three years ago, too.

Facts: East Thurrock United has failed to go beyond this Round in the two seasons since equalling the club’s best FA Cup run. Harlow Town has only once gone beyond this Round in the club’s last eight campaigns.

History: Two previous FA Cup meetings, with one win apiece, Weymouth 2-1 in 1948-49 season, Chelmsford City 1-0 in 1985-86.

Facts: The only 3rd Qualifying Round tie where the two clubs have met more than once before in the FA Cup. Chelmsford City has progressed just once beyond this Round in the last four years. Conversely, Weymouth has failed just once to go through to the next Round in the last four seasons.

Facts: It is 21 years since Cinderford Town progressed past the 3rd Qualifying Round. Hampton and Richmond Borough did so just four seasons ago.

Tie No. 28 – Oxford City (National League S) v Leiston (IL Premier)

Levels: Step 2 v Step 3

Best Runs:Round 2 v Round 1

History: No previous FA Cup meetings.

Facts: It is four years since Oxford City ventured beyond the 3rd Qualifying Round. Leiston is trending towards a 1st Round ‘Proper’ exit this season having exited progressively from 1st Qualifying Round to 4th Qualifying Round over the last four years.

Tie No. 29 – Margate (IL Premier) v Herne Bay (IL 1S)

Levels: Step 3 v Step 4

Best Runs:Round 3 v 4th qualifying

History: One previous FA Cup meeting 47 years ago, won 1-0 by Margate.

Facts: The North Kent Coast derby. Margate has progressed beyond this Round in both of the last two seasons. It is 15 years since Herne Bay appeared in this Round and 31 years since going any further.

Facts: It is five years since St Albans City last failed to go beyond the 3rd Qualifying Round. It is only the second time Bridport has appeared in this Round in 58 FA Cup campaigns, the last time being 61 years ago.

Tie No. 31 – Heybridge Swifts (IL 1N) v Frome Town (SL Premier)

Levels: Step 4 v Step 3

Best Runs:Round 1 v Round 1

History: No previous FA Cup meetings.

Facts: It is four years since Heybridge Swifts progressed beyond the 3rd Qualifying Round. However, it is 33 years since Frome Town did the same.

Tie No. 32 – Truro City (National League S) v AFC Sudbury (IL 1N)

Levels: Step 2 v Step 4

Best Runs: 3rd qualifying v Round 1

History: No previous FA Cup meetings.

Facts: Truro City is appearing in the 3rd Qualifying Round for the fourth time nine seasons. It is 11 years since AFC Sudbury went past the 3rd Qualifying Round. The club will travel 714 miles in the hope of doing it again.

Facts: The Sussex Coast derby. Eastbourne Borough achieved the club’s best FA Cup run for the fourth time just last season. Bognor Regis Town has ventured past the 3rd Qualifying Round just once in the last 12 campaigns.

History: No previous FA Cup meetings despite 197 campaigns between the two clubs.

Facts: Bath City is competing in FA Cup for the 100th time, but has gone out at this stage of the competition in both the last two seasons. Hemel Hempstead Town has only exited as early as this Round once in the last four years.

Facts: Needham Market has progressed beyond this Round just once in the club’s previous 14 FA Cup campaigns, four years ago. Dartford has only once gone out of the competition as early as the 3rd Qualifying Round in their last seven campaigns.

Tie No. 36 – Haringey Borough (IL 1N) v Bideford (SL 1SW)

Levels: Step 4 v Step 4

Best Runs: 3rd qualifying v Round1

History: No previous FA Cup meetings.

Facts: Haringey Borough is appearing in the 3rd Qualifying Round for only the second time in 38 FA Cup campaigns, the last time was 31 years ago. It is 15 years since Bideford made it this far in the FA Cup.

Facts: It is 10 years since Folkestone Invicta last went beyond the 3rd Qualifying Round. Aylesbury United is competing in FA Cup for the 100th time, but it is nine years since the club has gone further than this Round.